Things to do in London this weekend (July 18-19)

A longstanding Soho tradition – going back more than half a century – this annual neighbourhood knees-up is organised by volunteers from the Soho Society, and sees the garden of Soho’s St Anne’s Church bursting with live music and entertainment. The main draw of the day is the Soho Waiters’ Race. A tradition dating back to 1955, it starts at 3.15pm outside the French House, and sees a gaggle of waiters pelt through the streets of Soho, each holding a tray stacked with a bottle of champers, a glass and a napkin, all of which must be intact when they cross the finish line. Another crowd favourite is the Soho Dog Show, which awards eight different prizes, including ‘Dog who looks most like their owner’. 

The Victory has a rousing origin story. Much-loved local restaurant Franklins was a jewel in East Dulwich’s dining crown, but closed earlier this year after 26 years in business. Aghast, the locals rallied, including restaurateur Jamie Younger of the nearby Begging Bowl. Within weeks, the place was his. This is by no means Younger’s first rodeo, and he’s got former Noble Rotter Seán Breen in to exec chef the menu, which is a little bit French. In the elegant but not overblown back room, classic cocktails are sipped in dainty Nick & Nora glasses as we snack on perfect melba-toast like soldiers topped with chopped egg mayonnaise and silky Cantabrian anchovies. The main event is a whole roast poulet jaune (that’s a yellow, corn-fed chicken to you and I), served in two parts. Welcome back to the neighbourhood, The Victory. This one’s a keeper. 

It’s nearly time to find out which country has won the FIFA World Cup! This weekend, the third-place playoff match lands on Saturday, before the big final on Sunday. Whether England make it through or not, it’s still very much worth pulling up a stool for. Click through to see where in London is showing all World Cup fixtures. And if you’re sizing up England’s potential route to the final, check out who the Three Lions could take on next. 

Another year, another spectacular line-up of classical music. This year, the orchestral extravaganza will feature 86 concerts across eight weeks, with over 3,000 artists taking to the stage, with the majority of the action taking place inside the grand surroundings of London’s Royal Albert Hall. There'll be the chance to hear visiting ensembles from all over the world, including The Met Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Mahler Academy Orchestra and the Spanish National Orchestra, as well as innumerable concerts and recitals from the classic music world's biggest stars. There's also a renewed focus on more modern music styles, with celebrations of musical icons including Miles Davis and Marvin Gaye, the first ever Prog Rock Prom, and psychedelic rock from Grammy-nominated Dutch-Turkish band Altın Gün.

If you’re in the market for a meticulously accurate, 100 percent culturally sensitive drama about the events that led to the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand… then approach US playwright Rajiv Joseph’s play with caution. That’s not to say Joseph hasn’t done his research. His absurdist account of the recruitment and radicalisation of Ferdinand’s would-be assassins in the name of Yugoslav nationalism is very, very obviously not how it went down exactly. But this pointedly surreal play never pretends otherwise. This production – enhanced by a wonderful Es Devlin set that starts in the sewers and ends in a gilded train carriage – is simply so enjoyable. It’s a delicious cackle in the dark, at a subject that’s not becoming irrelevant anytime soon.

It’s difficult to talk about Ana Mendieta’s work without first mentioning her death. The Cuban-American artist was just 36 years old when she died in suspicious circumstances in 1985, after allegedly falling from the 34th-floor Manhattan apartment she shared with her husband, the revered modernist sculptor Carl Andre. As a rising star of the avant-garde art scene in 1980s New York, there’s no knowing what brilliant work Ana Mendieta might still be producing if her career hadn’t been cut tragically short. Great news, then, that the Tate Modern is putting the art front and centre this summer, in the largest UK exhibition of Ana Mendieta’s work to date, featuring many pieces never exhibited in this country before. 

Staged across five nights and two weekend afternoons, top-tier comedians will descend on the Old Royal Naval College for London’s largest and longest-running comedy festival. Take your pick from stellar line-ups fronted by a succession of proper comedy A-listers, heavy on the television faves. Tom Allen, Josh Widdicombe, Alan Davies, Sarah Pascoe, David O’Doherty, Jack Dee, Chris McCauseland and Ross Noble each headline a bill of four comics. The setting is pretty spectacular, too – performances take place on an outdoor stage with the Royal Naval College as the backdrop. Get there early to take advantage of the food stalls, bars and breezy summer vibes.

Though he wasn’t born until almost 20 years after Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical theatre romp debuted, Sam Ryder’s eclectic, guitar-heavy pop should theoretically position him well to front this loveably mercurial rock opera. This production actually started 10 years ago at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park. It’s a pretty damn good production. Sheader’s cast look like sexy apocalypse survivors as they lock into Drew McOnie’s deliciously weird and angular choreography. Tom Scutt’s scaffold set is stark but ominously symbolic and the on-stage seating is very near, making members of the audience look like part of a teeming Judean throng. It slots into the Jamie Lloyd era of Sexy Lloyd Webber very nicely indeed.

Family can be hell. But tearing them apart on film is pure paradise for us bloodthirsty drama queens. A hunger that gonzo Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz is more than happy to satiate with his latest bonkers, horny offering. Leading the stacked cast is Callum Turner, who provides narration. He plays Ed, a sharp-suited, cold-hearted chap in an astonishingly privileged pack of cutthroat fashion-lovers. Under the imperious command of their blind patriarch father (Tracy Letts), the clan includes Ed’s older brother Jack (Jamie Bell), Epilepsy-prone baby bro Robert (Lukas Gage) and their pent-up sister, Anna (Riley Keough). Each wants shot of the rest, though Robert wants Jack to shoot his incestuous shot with him. It all yields plenty of Succession-style comedy. Taking a bite out of our obscenely capitalist era. It’s a fabulous feast for the eyes and ears. 

Feeling thirsty? Desperate for a funky sour, cheeky saison or a fruity IPA? You’re in luck. The capital’s biggest beer celebration is back for 2026, and it’s moving to a brand new venue. Set over two days in Southwark Park, London Craft Beer Festival promises four-hour sessions of non-stop-beer-drinking bliss, with visitors getting to sample London’s best beers as well as some international standouts, including our faves Gipsy Hill, Verdant, Deya and more. Hungry? The food line up is pretty serious too, this year featuring Meltdown Cheeseburgers, Bone Daddies and Chick N’ Sours. A ticket gets you a four-hour session and access to more than 800 beers from over 100 brewers, and there are group discounts available too. All the beer is included in the ticket price. Happy drinking, folks. 

If you’re more of a sit-back-and-watch kinda person as opposed to a get-stuck-in kinda person, we’ve got some good news. North Face is hosting a Climb Festival at Canary Wharf South Dock, but don’t worry – you don’t have to do any climbing. Instead, watch some of the world’s top climbers scale 16-metre walls and complete deep-water solo climbs, from the safety of the ground. There’ll also be talks from climbers, hands-on workshops and DJ sets from the likes of Rinse FM, Femi Keleoso and Girls Don’t Sync, which will go on into the evening. 

Somerset House Summer Series is back for another year. Held in the Edmond J. Safra Fountain court, in the enclave of the iconic Neoclassical building, this open-air series of gigs has long held space for both exciting up-and-comers and well-known trailblazers from the UK and beyond. Spread out over 11 nights, this year’s series starts on Thursday with a set from breakthrough pop sensation Naïka. She’s followed by Palace on Friday, Thee Sacred Souls on Saturday and Lightning Seeds on Sunday, who’ll hopefully pull out a very apt rendition of Three Lions. 

Always ready to bust a move? Head to Ravenscourt Park, where your quick feet can join a huge alfresco open dance floor, and you can take part in a whole host of free dance classes and workshops. There’ll be 42 events across the week-long festival, from silent discos and K-pop sessions, to Afrobeats and musical theatre. Special guest appearances will also be announced throughout the week, including dancers from Strictly. Audiences are also welcome to watch the performances, but be prepared for your toes to start tapping. 

In the middle of Disability Pride Month, BFI Southbank is putting on a programme that will showcase the best of disabled filmmaking, creativity and community. The weekend will feature the world premiere of documentary D-PUNK from the D-Punk Collective, the UK premier of Sundance selected film Joybubbles and the European festival premiere of comedy Lone Wolves by Ryan Cunningham which stars autistic writer-performer Matt Foss. On the final day of the fest, there’ll be a curation of short films platforming disabled-led animation, comedies and documentaries focused on resisting ableism. 

Journalists have been banned from entering Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023. In Daniel Rugo’s new documentary, a group of international medics act as first-hand witnesses to the conflict. ‘You’re not seeing what I’m seeing,’ is the documentary’s opening gambit, delivered by the straight-talking Dr Victoria Rose, a British plastic and reconstructive surgeon. With the absence of international media on the ground in Gaza, Rugo claims that what most people are learning about Israel’s action in Gaza are ‘lies’. Filmed from October 2023 to 2025, the 10 physicians featured, which includes surgeons, paediatricians and obstetricians, are here to set their record straight. It’s not a happy watch, but Life Support is an urgent and essential piece of reportage. 

Three legendary south London nightclubs are coming together this summer to create a mega series of shindigs, proving that south London really is the capital’s clubbing epicentre right now. Phonox, MOT and Jumbi will join forces for 13 events taking place throughout the summer; audiences will be moved between venues, going from outside to inside and day to night. Circulate has curated a stellar line-up featuring a who’s who of world-class DJs. This Saturday, there’s a day party at MOT on the cards featuring Angel D'lite and Josh Caffé. Stay out late for the Phonox afterparty. 

Edmond Rostan’s French classic is anything but stuffy in this RSC transfer. Co-adaptors Simon Evans (who also directs) and Debris Stevenson restore the work to 1640 France – a time when the country was stuck in the Thirty Years’ War – and yes, it comes with all the trimmings of that era (pocket swords! Mournful violin players!). It’s very much the romantic tragicomedy Rostand wrote, but despite its period setting, it feels wholly current. Adrien Lester’s Cyrano appears as a man of swaggering confidence and Susannah Fielding’s Roxane is sardonically chipper, with girl-next-door energy. It all makes for a five-star play, oozing with bittersweet longing and stirring down to its last jot. 

Taking a little of Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, a sprinkle of Mike Nichols, a toke or two of stoner comedy silliness and a big huff of post-Woody Allen urbanite repression, Olivia Wilde’s latest slots into a rich lineage of hilariously awkward sex comedies. With a stellar cast – Wilde, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz – finding alchemy in their contrasting styles, it’s daringly close to the bone and frequently fall-off-your-chair funny. It’s also comfortably the best US remake of a Spanish film yet. Cesc Gay’s Goya-nominated The People Upstairs is transplanted from Barcelona to the one-time home of free love, San Francisco, where fraying married couple Joe (Rogen) and Angela (Wilde) are finding love of any description hard to come by. A late shift sees the film fully embrace its inner Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, shedding laughs for a sadder and deeper commentary on marriage that rings true. Cue it up and get the neighbours round. Or not.

Visit the first museum exhibition dedicated to artist Audrey Amiss, which brings together drawings, paintings and other exhibition materials to explore the life and work of Amiss who died in 2013. Committed to psychiatric hospitals several times throughout her life, Amiss used her art to advocate for people who were mistreated by the mental health system. The Surviving Exhibitions focuses on works that records suggest Amiss exhibited or intended to make public. 

This nail-bitingly tense thriller is director Felix Barrett’s second ‘normal’ piece of theatre to open in London in the last year. Barrett is the founder and driving force behind immersive theatre legends Punchdrunk. The Guilty concerns a troubled police call centre operator; it’s writer Chloe Moss’s adaptation of the Danish film Den Skyldige and its Jake Gyllenhaal-starring Hollywood remake. This production is about as immersive as sitting in a seat watching a single guy onstage gets. The action is enhanced by an arsenal of disorienting light and sound tricks. Russell Tovey wears his heart on his sleeve tremendously well as Joe, a jaded police call centre operator going about his job with surly efficiency. There are hints from the beginning that something bad has happened to Tovey’s operator. Barrett’s direction provides an alluring air of ambiguity, but at the same time it’s mostly a bloody good real-time thriller. 

Popping up each summer on the steps where the Regent’s Canal passes Granary Square, Everyman’s Screen on the Canal is one of the city’s best loved outdoor cinemas, thanks to its atmospheric setting, eclectic programming and the fact that it doesn’t cost viewers a penny. Pop down on a sunny afternoon to catch live coverage from Wimbledon every day of the tournament, plus the usual mix of live sports, classic movies, family-friendly flicks and recent hits.

‘What you are about to see is something you’ve never seen before,’ we're promised at the start of Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. That may be true for some of us, but not for all: Nirvanna the Band the Show was actually a culty and beloved Canadian sitcom based on an early aughts web series – which has now, as advertised, been turned into a full-length movie. Like the series and sitcom, the movie follows two clueless friends determined to book a gig at Toronto’s famed Rivoli music club. Unfortunately, they don’t have a manager, an agent or much of a setlist. Because the movie’s on-the-fly style is as scruffy as its protagonists, it’s easy to underestimate the intelligence and artistry it takes to make something so silly. But they dumb themselves down brilliantly. And right about now, a brilliantly big-hearted, feel-good comedy may be even more valuable than a Saturday night spot at the Rivoli.

Frida Kahlo’s brought the sun to London. Tate Modern has sold more advance tickets for Frida Kahlo: The Making of an Icon than for any exhibition in the Tate gallery’s 128-year history. And it’s not surprising. 

This exhibition sets out to show how Frida became one of the most recognisable artists of the 20th century and a source of inspiration for generations of artists who followed. Alongside 23 paintings and 11 works on paper by Kahlo, there are photographs she sat for, her jewellery, a selection of Indigenous Mexican clothing from Kahlo’s wardrobe, and an excerpt from a film by Nikolas Muray capturing a tender moment between Frida and Diego.

And then there are several galleries devoted to documenting ‘Fridamania’: the shrines, sacred hearts and handcrafted tributes that transformed Kahlo from artist into folk hero before turning her into a global brand.

More than seventy years after her death at the age of 47, the Mexican artist remains a cultural phenomenon: a painter, fashion muse, feminist icon and, as the gift shop attests, a patron saint of tote bags and tea towels. Expect it to be busy!

If you thought walking up to your favourite painting in the National Gallery was as close as you could get to a masterpiece, think again. At Frameless, 42 masterpieces from 29 of the world’s most iconic artists are presented in ways never seen before, reimagined through cutting-edge technology, animation and soundscapes. Situated in Marble Arch, Frameless plays host to four unique galleries with hypnotic visuals and a dazzling score, where visitiors can enjoy 90 minutes of surreal artwork from Bosch, Dalí and more, for just £23.60.

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Is it art, or is it maths? It’s a question even MC Escher himself couldn’t answer about his own work. While the Dutch printmaker known for his infinite staircases, metamorphosing tessellations and paradoxical buildings was rejected by the art world, he was revered by mathematicians and is now one of the most famous optical illusionists of all time. The OG creator of images that make you go ‘Huh?’ is going under the microscope in London with a blockbuster exhibition celebrating his life and work this summer. Created by Italian company Arthemisia and the immersive peeps at Fever, MC Escher: The Exhibition has arrived at Somerset House as part of its world tour. If you are a gaga for geometry, are fascinated by fractals, or just have a penchant for the psychedelic, you will find plenty to be engrossed by here. 

In our age of mind-boggling CGI and AI-optimised everything, it’s easy to forget how much pleasure can be had from the simple optical tricks of mirrors and lights. But not for Julio Le Parc. A key figure of the Kinetic and Op Art movements of the 1960s, the pioneering Argentinian artist has been making illuminated, kinetic and participatory works for seven decades, and is still making art at the ripe old age of 97. This major retrospective celebrates his visionary seven-decade career, spanning from from his arrival in Paris in the late 1950s to his resurgence in the 2010s, with over 60 colourful, immersive (and extremely Instagrammable) works.

After pulling in millions of visitors in Amsterdam and Barcelona, Moco Museum London has landed beside Marble Arch with a three-floor showcase of modern, contemporary and immersive art. Inside, you’ll find more than 100 works from names including Banksy, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Yayoi Kusama, alongside immersive digital rooms and sensory installations designed to pull you into the artwork. There’s also the limited-run exhibition ‘Voice of the Street’, dedicated to Haring’s legendary New York subway drawings from the early 1980s. Flex-entry tickets start from £15, so you can drop in whenever suits during opening hours.

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As one of Britain’s most celebrated sculptors of the 20th century, Barbara Hepworth made stunning modern creations inspired by the nature and lanscapes of Cornwall, where she lived. Her abstract shapes often featured smooth ovals, holes, undulating surfaces and strings. This summer the Courtauld will stage an exhibition interested in one aspect of Hepworth’s practice: her obsession with colour, which often came up in her work in unexpected ways. Featuring 20 of her most significant sculptures, alongside 30 drawings, Hepworth in Colour will unite for the first time her early innovative sculptures with colour of the 1940s with major examples of her work with colour from the 1950s and 1960s.

Broadwick Soho arrived with serious flair in 2023 and has been serving up a hit of West End glamour, that feels both indulgent and effortlessly cool ever since. Tucked inside the hotel, Dear Jackie is its seductive Italian dining room, all Murano glow, red silk walls and plush booths that could tell a few stories. The menu leans into refined Italian comfort with superior pasta and reimagined classics, making it an ideal spot to settle in for dinner.

With this exclusive Time Out offer, you can sink into Soho’s newest slice of dolce vita decadence for less with a three courses set meun and a glass of Champagne (worth £22). The perfect pre-theatre treat or the start of a night that might run on far longer than planned.

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